The last hurrah

By Meg Kennedy

After helping form the orchestra six-years ago, Barry Wilkins OAM has taken his final bow as Musical Director and secretary of the Moorabool Light Orchestra.

Mr Wilkins sat down to chat about his time with the MLO and what’s next.

For Mr Wilkins, it was a lifelong passion to become a conductor.

“When I was a young boy, I used to use my mother’s knitting needle and the rubber stopper off an eye-dropper as baton, and I would stand in front of the radio for hours and hours,” he said.

“I learned Handel’s Messiah from memory; I learnt symphonies like they were going out of fashion.”

He has never been formally trained in an instrument; instead, trawling through books on music allowed Mr Wilkins to “bluff” his way into conducting concerts for the first time.

And 50-years later, he has conducted around Australia and internationally; from the Walt Disney Symphony at Disneyworld to the 360-member Mormon Tabernacle Choir in Salt Lake City.

“I don’t think I’ve ever earned a penny out of conductor. To me, that’s my hobby,” he said.

Although no stranger to an era of jazz and rock, Mr Wilkins said he was always inclined to the great composers of classical music.

“I love the classics, I like all types of music, and I suppose in those early days there was a lot of classical stuff on radio,” he said.

“I mean, just the whole business with some of the composers–the Mozarts and Beethovens–it’s just magic.”

In conjunction with music, Mr Wilkins has a strong connection to tourism, including as director and CEO of the Ballarat Begonia Festival for 23-years.

His efforts led him to be awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 1992 for services to tourism, festivals, the arts and community.

During his time in Bacchus Marsh, Mr Wilkins notes its potential as a thriving arts scene.

He describes the town as “a place, culturally and artistically, waiting to happen”.

“We’ve got the two rivers; we’ve got the gorges – a great opportunity [for the arts],” he said.

“I think some people have woken up to that, and with the visual arts starting to emerge in Bacchus Marsh, it is the start.”

Although Mr Wilkins won’t entirely disappear from the MLO, his significant step away means a new chapter for both himself and the orchestra.

“I think leaving Bacchus Marsh in general and leaving the orchestra…I follow that with great interest,” said Mr Wilkins.

“I’ve had people say to me, ‘Oh now that you’re going, you don’t care whether [the MLO] lives or dies’ well I say, ‘I didn’t bust my guts for years for it to then just end!’” he laughed.

“I’m very pleased there’s a very strong push to make sure the Moorabool Orchestra survives…we’ve already appointed two conductors, and I will still be the conductor over the next couple of years.

“I look forward to seeing where it will go, and someone will take it in a different direction, but that’s life,” he said.

The one question he remains stumped on is choosing a favourite piece of classical music.

“I really can’t answer that!” he laughed.

“I’m passionate for Messiah by Handel, I suppose because I fell in love with [the conductor Leonard] Bernstein…that’s one that sticks in my mind…also the Mozart Linz set.”

As for his work over the decades, Mr Wilkins prides himself most on using music as a tool to bring the community together.

“Some people say how do you live without sport; I say, how do you live without music?”

For more information on the Moorabool Light Orchestra, visit http://www.moorabool-light-orchestra.com/.